An Admiralty tug is a deep sea tugboat, steam powered, used by Britain's Royal Navy to berth and tow offshore naval vessels. Hundreds of deep sea pattern tugs were built prior to and during the First World War to assist the Royal Navy, (then the largest navy in the world) with its fleet.
Many of the tugs served into the Second World War and then saw an extended life after being sold off by the navy into private service.
The ship is characteristic with a high prow, wooden bridge house, and steel arches over the aft deck to raise the tow cable. The tugs not only saw service in the Home Isles, but in bases around the world. including Newfoundland, Halifax Nova Scotia, Bermuda, Gibraltar, Malta, Alexandria, Aden, India, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong.
HMRT Bustler, HMRT Samsonia, HMRT Growler and HMRT Hesperia all built and launched in 1941/42. Built in 1944/45 were HMRT Mediator, HMRT Reward, HMRT Turmoil and HMRT Warden.